WASHINGTON – XM Satellite Radio ended the third quarter of 2005 with just over five million customers, doubling the 2.5 million it reported at the end of last year’s third quarter.
The growth was driven by third quarter net subscriber additions of 617,152, a 48% increase over the 415,671 net subscribers added in the third quarter 2004.
XM figures it will top six million subs before the end of this year.
However, losses are still huge at the largest satellite radio company. XM’s net loss for the third quarter 2005 was $131.9 million a 12% increase over Q3 2004.
XM also reported an EBITDA loss of $73.8 million for the third quarter 2005 compared to a $62.9 million in the same time period last year.
The losses came as XM reported revenue of $153 million, an increase of 134% over the $65 million from the third quarter 2004. “XM’s third quarter subscriber growth was driven by strong automotive and retail distribution performance with a range of full-featured products. Subscriber acquisition costs (SAC) in the third quarter 2005 were $53, a decrease from the $57 in the third quarter 2004. Cost per gross addition (CPGA) in the third quarters of both 2005 and 2004 was $89. XM products are well stocked for the holiday season and XM expects to accelerate its subscriber and revenue growth through the fourth quarter,” says the press release.
GM and Honda to produce more than 2 million 2006 XM-equipped vehicles.
Another growing aspect of XM is its ad sales, which came in at $5.3 million in the quarter, 159% more than Q3 2004. For the year, ad time sold on XM amounted to $12.8 million at the end of September, a 200% increase compared to the first nine months of 2004.
XM Canada will reportedly launch in November.
